What? I’m supposed to pay big bucks now for something my antediluvian taste buds will fail to appreciate 20 years later when will I strain to make it to the bathroom after drinking a short pour? That’s your recommendation?

Outstanding wines, at least to oenophilic elites, often are not at their best in youth. Wonderful news if your grandfather cellared treasures, but not the world where most of us reside.

If wine-score pundits are your lodestone, best plays are 85-90 point wines. Vino cognoscenti use those scores for “very good” wines that may not improve with “bottle age” and typically are affordable.

The good news is almost all vintners today make wine deliciously drinkable upon release.

All that asserted, I wish I could reassure you bottle age is bogus bloviation. Alas, no.

Mary Louise, my sister and Brooklyn bakery baroness, recently shared with me a 25-year-old cab she purchased at a French winery. Online sages opined it was past prime. It was not. It was the best bottle of wine I ever enjoyed. Maybe because of exquisite bottle age. Maybe because it was a marvelous evening with my sister in her lovely Brooklyn home. Most likely because really good old wine is really good, especially shared with people you love in a great setting.

I’ve set some good stuff aside for later, but my sister and I enjoy everyday wine whenever we can, and we don’t have to wait a quarter century for magic to materialize.

Bottom line: if you love the people you are with, you probably will love the wine. It isn’t about what is in the bottle, no matter the bottle’s age. It is about who you are sharing the bottle with. Just saying.